Another exciting season of Patriots football has brought some special moments and milestones along with it, and The Hall continues to chronicle that history and preserve it as it’s being made. Artifacts from the current season are now part of a special display case at The Hall.

1393516_10152506910228061_4387145036792999101_nThe most recent artifacts added came straight from Indianapolis to The Hall. Jonas Gray rushed for 201 yards and a franchise-record four touchdowns in the Patriots 42-20 win on Nov. 16. His four touchdowns set a single-game rushing record and tied Randy Moss for the most touchdowns in a game. His white away, game-worn jersey and the ball he carried into the end zone for his fourth TD are now at Hall.

Tom Brady continues to dot the NFL and Patriots record books as he plays his15th season in New England. Brady moved past Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks Warren Moon and John Elway for fifth on the all-time NFL passing yardage list this season and also eclipsed the 50,000 passing yards mark. The home navy blue jersey Brady wore to eclipse the 50,000-yard mark in the Oct. 5 game against the Bengals along with the ball he threw are both on display at The Hall. The ball used to pass Elway, which happened in the Nov. 2 game against the Broncos, was sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Brady wore the same blue jersey two weeks before, on Sept. 21 against the Raiders, when he won his 150th game as a starting quarterback during his team’s 16-9 win at Gillette Stadium.

IMG_0202One of Brady’s all-time favorite receiving targets is tight end RobGronkowski, who also continues to assault the team’s and the NFL’s record books. Gronk’s navy blue home jersey and blue gloves worn against the Broncos when he caught his 50thcareer touchdown pass are also part of The Hall’s new display. Gronkowski caught his 50th in just his 59th game and tied Randy Moss as the second fastest receiver to reach that plateau (Lance Alworth did it in 54 games).

Gronk wore the same jersey the week before against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26 when he teamed with Brady to set a franchise record for touchdown connections between a quarterback and receiver. The tandem entered the game having connected for 45 touchdowns, which tied them with the Drew Bledsoe-to-Ben Coates connection. But Gronkcaught three TD pass from Brady that day to establish the new mark.

photoHead coach Bill Belichick, who has 225 total wins, reached the 200 regular season win mark against the Vikings back in September. The Hall has his headset from the game on display along with a painted ball marking the accomplishment.

When the Patriots beat the Jets in October, defensive lineman Chris Jones blocked a 58-yard Nick Folk, game-winning field goal try. The ball that was blocked and Jones’ gloves worn to block it also are part of the display. Jones’ block came a year after his penalty on a missed Folk field goal moved the Jets 5 yards closer and awarded a re-try, on which Folk connected to send the Patriots to defeat.

Check put a few photos from the 44th ISHA Conference in Nashville.

 

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On November 1, 2014, a crowd of 700 people attended the induction ceremony for athletes Kevin Dugas, Scott Fraser, Theresa MacCuish, Richard G. Munro, and Ken Poole; builders Dr. Cathy Campbell and Anthony Hall; and the 1998 Truro TSN Bearcats Hockey Club. The event was emceed by CBC Charlottetown sportscaster and colour commentator Bruce Rainnie. The Induction class represented a diverse selection of sports this year, including the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame’s first stock car racing inductee—the late Scott Fraser.

 

The group photo from left to right: (back row) Truro Bearcats GM Larry Anthony, Scott Fraser’s brother Frank Fraser Jr., Anthony Hall, Kevin Dugas, (front row) Truro Bearcats GM Jim Foley, Ken Poole, Dr. Cathy Campbell, Richard G. Munro, Theresa MacCuish.

St. Marys, Ont. – Longtime Toronto Star baseball columnist and former Montreal Expos publicity director Richard Griffin has been named the winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2014 Jack Graney Award.

The St. Marys, Ont.-based shrine presents this award annually to a member of the media who has made significant contributions to baseball in Canada through their life’s work.

“Fully aware of the impressive list of winners of the Graney Award, I was humbled when Scott Crawford [the Hall’s director of operations] called with the news,” said Griffin. “By December 2016, I will have spent equal parts of my life as columnist with The Star and in the front office with the Expos. Just two jobs in 42 working years, both of them absorbing the wonderful life lessons of baseball. How lucky can one person be.

“My thanks to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and to every GM, scout, manager, player, writer and broadcaster with whom I ever worked. I have learned something important from them all.”

Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1954, Griffin fell in love with baseball when he began listening to World Series games on the radio on the north shore of the island in the early ’60s. His parents moved to Montreal in 1963, where Griffin graduated with honours from Loyola High School before attending Concordia University and playing Junior Varsity basketball.

Griffin secured his first job in Major League Baseball with the Expos while he was still a student at Concordia in 1973. He rose through the Expos’ ranks to become director of publicity in 1978 and he soon garnered a reputation as one of the best in the business at working with reporters, players and broadcasters. While employed by the Expos, he also volunteered in a public relations role for the commissioner’s office for 17 playoffs and World Series. He has witnessed all or parts of every World Series since 1978.

For his efforts, he was named the recipient of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Robert O. Fishel Award in 1992, one of two Canadians to be so recognized, along with Howard Starkman of the Blue Jays, who was honoured in 1995. This award is handed out annually to an individual who best exemplifies public relations excellence in Major League Baseball.

When Expos radio play-by-play man Dave Van Horne shifted to the club’s TV telecasts, with his various partners, Griffin stepped into the radio booth and broadcast games for the club from 1985 to 1994. During the 1994 season, which saw the Expos leading the National East by six games when a player strike wiped out the rest of the campaign, Griffin hosted a post-game radio show.

After that devastating season, Griffin decided to take his career in another direction, and on February 13, 1995, he was hired to be the Toronto Star’s baseball columnist. He has now served in that capacity for the past 19 years and his work has become essential reading for baseball fans across the country.

“Richard has an immense passion for baseball and you can feel that in his columns,” said Scott Crawford, the Hall’s director of operations. “Over the past 20 years, he has become one of the most respected and knowledgeable baseball columnists in the business. He was also a tremendous contributor to the success of the Montreal Expos during the ’80s and ’90s.”

When not behind the keyboard, Griffin provides baseball analysis for TSN Radio and TV and is the head coach of the Oakville A’s junior rep team. He has coached for Baseball Oakville for more than 15 years and he led the organization’s midget AAA team to a Central Ontario Baseball Association title in 2011 and the Juniors to the same title in 2014. He has twice received a Sport Recognition Award from the town of Oakville for his commitment to coaching.

Born in St. Thomas, Ont., Jack Graney was a scrappy leadoff hitter for the Cleveland Indians. His big league resume boasts a number of firsts. When he walked to the plate in a game against the Boston Red Sox on July 11, 1914, he became the first batter to face Babe Ruth. Almost two years later, on June 26, 1916, he was the first major leaguer to bat wearing a number on his uniform. After hanging up his spikes, Graney became the first ex-player to make the transition to the broadcast booth, performing radio play-by-play for the Indians from 1932 to 1953.

 Previous Winners of the Jack Graney Award:

1987 – Neil MacCarl – Toronto Star

1988 – Milt Dunnell – Toronto Star

1990 – Austin “Dink” Carroll – Montreal Gazette

1991 – Joe Crysdale & Hal Kelly – CKEY

1996 – Dave Van Horne – Montreal Expos

2001 – Tom Cheek – Toronto Blue Jays

2002 – Ernie Harwell – Detroit Tigers

2003 – Allan Simpson – Baseball America

2004 – Jacques Doucet – Montreal Expos

2005 – Len Bramson – TBS Sports

2009 – Ian MacDonald – Montreal Gazette

2010 – Bob Elliott – Sun Media & canadianbaseballnetwork.com

2011 – W. P. Kinsella – “Shoeless Joe” novel adapted to film “Field of Dreams”

2012 – Jerry Howarth – Toronto Blue Jays

2013 – Rodger Brulotte – Montreal Expos, Toronto Blue Jays

2014 – Richard Griffin – Toronto Star

The International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) is pleased to announce its 2014 Communication Award winners. The 11 winners were presented the ISHY trophy Oct. 28 during the Evening of Champions dinner at the group’s annual conference hosted by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

“Every year ISHA member institutions submit examples of their success engaging their sport heritage community and the annual awards earn recognition as some of the best in our industry,” ISHA Awards Committee Chairperson Paula Homan said. “The 2014 Communication Award winners earn an ISHY trophy and the opportunity to leverage that win into some well-deserved attention within their market.”

The 2014 ISHY winners are:

  • Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame for A Century of Sport in the Finnish Community of Thunder Bay
  • The Paul W. Bryant Museum for Inside the Vault: The Paul W. Bryant Collection
  • National College Baseball Hall of Fame for 2014 College Baseball Night of Champions Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Awards Show
  • 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sport Museum for its Detailed Exhibition Report
  • National College Baseball Hall of Fame for College Diamonds, the Official Magazine of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame
  • San Francisco 49ers for 49ers Alumni Magazine, 2014 edition
  • Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame for its Visitor Guide Brochure
  • Georgia Sports Hall of Fame for its Physical Education Curriculum
  • Kentucky Derby Museum for It’s My Derby fundraising campaign
  • USGA Museum for More than a Game, a short film video
  • Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame for its website, www.sasksportshalloffame.com
  • The Best in Show award went to the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

The 44th annual International Sports Heritage Association conference, titled Setting the Stage for Success, kicked off Monday, Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tenn. The conference is being hosted by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame located in Bridgestone Arena, home to the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

The conference began with a visit to gold-medal sponsor 1220 Exhibits’ headquarters. After a tour of the fabrication areas, 1220’s Doug Zellman, who handles the company’s creation and installation of artifact mounts, led a hands-on session in the art and craft of mount-making.

Zellman showed the different types of artifact mounts 1220 uses in sports museums to support artifacts such as sports balls, golf clubs, helmets, gloves, baseball bats, rings and jerseys with materials such as plexiglass, metals such as brass and aluminum, and acrylic.

The delegates than returned to Bridgestone Arena for a session titled, The Power of Programming led by Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame President Dana Hart and Country Music Hall of Fame Director of Public Programming and Outreach Ali Tonn. The session was sponsored by HealyKohler Design.

The day’s final session was a guided tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame located just steps from Bridgestone Arena. The session was sponsored by the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Corporation.

The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame inducted its 24th annual class on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Therese Forton-Barnes, president of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame welcomed more than 900 attendees and guests, including several past inductees. Handling Master of Ceremonies duties for the evening was Paul Peck, voice of UB Buffalo Bulls football.

This year’s class joins a rich heritage of native Western New Yorkers and those who starred in and around the Queen City during their playing days. The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame honors those who have enhanced our lives with their performances and commitment to Western New York sports, an effort surpassed only by the positive impressions they have left on our athletes of tomorrow. Proceeds from the dinner, auction and raffle benefit the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Amateur Sports Development Fund.

Class of 2014 included:

  • E.J. “Skip” Doyle – a sailor and one of the winningest skippers on Lake Ontario and for the Youngstown Yacht Club
  • Ed Kilgore – a veteran broadcaster for 40 years, and a community advocate who raised more than $40,000 for Kids Escaping Drugs.
  • Larry Veronica – Bennett High School Coaching Legend
  • Vicki Mitchell – One of the most distinguished athletes and international competitors in the Western New York running community.
  • Jim Ritcher – A Buffalo Bills first round draft pick (1980) who played in two All-Pro games and started four Super Bowls with the Bills.
  • Erik Schlopy – A skier from Colden, N.Y. who is a three-time U.S. Olympian, and seven-time U.S. National Champion.
  • Robert “Rip” Simonick – the last original Sabres employee whose far reaching impact has been felt both on and off the ice in Buffalo and throughout the NHL.
  • Dale Tepas – a five-time All-Catholic, two-time All-Western New York and one of the greatest high school athletes in WNY history.

The Pride of WNY inducted posthumously this year:

  • Howard Ehmke – a 15-year Major League veteran, who won 20 games for the Red Sox (1923), including a no-hitter.
  • Edith Johnson Miller – a five-time National Women’s Bicycle Champion, and three-time national champion in speed-skating.
  • Clint Small – a legendary football and baseball coach for the Tonawanda Warriors, he led the football team to a record of 108-69-15, including five league championships, and not a single losing season from 1956 to 1972.
  • Ernie Warlick – Known for his gigantic hands and gentle personality, he caught 90 passes for over 1,500 yards during his four-year career and was an important member of the Bills’ 1964 and ’65 AFL Championship teams.

DENVER COLO. – Led by five-time NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups and two-time MLB Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, the Selection Committee of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame voted six individuals to be inducted at the 51stannual banquet April 2, 2015 at the Denver Marriott City Center.

Joining Billups and Halladay as inductees at the April banquet are John Dikeou, John Gagliardi, Becky Hammon and Warren Mitchell as the Class of 2015 was selected here Tuesday (October 14, 2014).  The Selection Committee will pick the 2014 Athletes-of-the-Year at a January 2015 meeting as the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame recognizes collegiate, high school, Olympic and professional athletes at the Denver Marriott City Center banquet.

During Billups’ 17-season NBA career with seven teams, he played in 1,043 regular-season games where he averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per game.  Selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, Billups played with the Celtics (1997-1998), Toronto Raptors (1998-1999), Minnesota Timberwolves (2000-2002), New York Knicks (2011) and Los Angeles Clippers (2001-2013).  He was hired Tuesday by ESPN as an NBA studio analyst for the 2014-2015 season.

Nicknamed “Mr. Big Shot” for making late-game shots, Billups was selected as the most valuable player of the 2004 NBA finals after leading the Larry Brown-coached Pistons to the championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.  Billups played on teams that advanced to the post-season 12 times as he averaged 17.3 points and 5.7 assists per playoff game.

A Denver native, Billups was a four-time All-State pick at George Washington High School where he started as a freshman.  He was Colorado’s Mr. Basketball three times and the state’s player of the year as a sophomore and as a junior.  He was also selected to the 1995 McDonald’s All-American Team.

Billups averaged 18.5 points per game over his two seasons at the University of Colorado where he was an All-Big 12 Conference performer and led the Buffs to the 1997 NCAA Championships and the school’s first NCAA tournament victory in over 30 years with an 80–62 win over Indiana.  Billups was honored by CU in 2004 by being the fifth player to have his jersey (No 4) retired.

An eight-time All-Star, Halladay pitched 16 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays (1998-2009) and the Philadelphia Phillies (2010-2013) where he posted a 203-105 record with a 3.38 earned run average and 2,117 strikeouts.  He completed 67 of his 390 MLB starts with 20 shutouts.  Halladay, who won 20 or more games in a season three times (2003, 2008 and 2010), is one of five pitchers in MLB history to win the Cy Young Award in both the American (2003) and National (2010) Leagues.

After completing his prep career at Arvada West High School, Halladay was the Blue Jays’ first draft selection in 1995 as the 17th pick overall.  During his first year with the Phillies in 2010, he became the fifth pitcher in MLB history (and the first since Nolan Ryan in 1973) to throw multiple no-hitters in the same season.  Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in MLB history against the Florida Marlins followed by the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history against the Cincinnati Reds.

A Denver real estate businessman, Dikeou purchased the Denver Bears in 1984 and its Major League Baseball territorial rights with the intent of bringing a big league team to the Mile High City.  He began his campaign by renaming the team the Denver Zephyrs and hiring Robert Howsam, Jr. (the Howsam family had been involved with MLB since 1910) to be the team’s General Manager.

A standout football player and track athlete at Denver East High School in the 1950s, Dikeou spent the next eight years promoting Colorado’s interest obtaining a MLB team along with drafting legislation in 1990 with Neil Macey and State Representative Kathi Williams to charge a 1/10th of 1¢ sales tax through a proposed stadium authority.

Dikeou helped fund the campaign to get legislative approval to place it on the ballot.  The sales tax initiative passed, bringing the seven metropolitan counties together to build Coors Field.  This new tax generated so much revenue that the Coors Field bonds were paid off 10 years earlier than expected.  The continued revenue was then used to build Invesco Field at Mile High (now Sports Authority Field at Mile High) for the Denver Broncos.

A major supporter of Rev. Leon Kelly’s Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives for the past 25 years, the Colorado Symphony, 100 Club, Boy Scouts, Dikeou was a founding member of University of Colorado’s football scholarship donor program and has provided a full scholarship for each of the last 35 years.

Hammon competed 16 seasons in the WNBA where she was named one of the league’s Top 15 Players of All-Time in July 2011.  She ranks seventh in WNBA history in points (5,841), fourth in assists (1,708), second in three-point shots made (829) and sixth in games played (450).  A six-time WNBA All-Star, Hammon averaged 13.1 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 27.9 minutes during her career. She has earned All-WNBA First Team honors twice (in 2007 and 2009) and was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2005 and 2008.

A three-time All-American at Colorado State, Hammon went unpicked in the 1999 WNBA Draft.  She signed with the New York Liberty in May of 1999 and spent eight seasons with the Liberty before being traded to the San Antonio Stars in a draft night deal in 2007.  She also played three seasons in the National Women’s Basketball League for the Tennessee Fury (2002-2003) and the Colorado Chill (2004-2006).  Hammon also played overseas for seven season with the Trentino Rovereto Basket (2001-2002), Rivas Ecópolis (2006-2007), CSKA Moscow (2007-2009), Ros Casares Valencia (2009-2010), Orenburg (2010-2011) and Spartak (2011-2012).

Hammon’s prolific scoring for Colorado State made her an All-American as well as Colorado Sportswoman of the Year.  She led her team to a 33–3 record in the 1998-1999 season and helped them advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen. She was named the WAC Mountain Division player of the year for the 1998-1999 season and surpassed University of Utah player Keith Van Horn as the WAC’s all-time leading scorer.

A three-time Colorado Sports Hall of Fame collegiate athlete of the year, Hammon set many Colorado State all-time records, including points (2,740), points per game (21.9), field goals made (918), free throws made (539), three-point field goals made (365) and assists (538).  She received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association as the best senior player under 5-8 in 1999.

Hammon was inducted into the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and her No. 25 Colorado State jersey was retired at the Moby Arena in 2005.  Hammon became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.  Hammon was hired this past August by the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach, becoming the second female assistant coach in NBA history but the first full-time assistant coach.  This also makes her the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the men’s four major professional sports in North America.

A native of Trinidad, Gagliardi ended his collegiate career in 2012 as the winningest football coach of all-time with a 489-138-11 (77.5) per cent.  Gagliardi’s 64 years of coaching is the most in college football surpassing the old record of 57 years held by former University of Chicago and University of the Pacific coach Amos Alonzo Stagg (1890-1946).

Gagliardi coached 60 seasons at Saint John’s (Minn.) University where he posted a record of 465-132-10 (.774) record and won four national championships (1963, 1965, 1976 and 2003).  Prior to Saint John’s, Gagliardi posted a 24-6-1 record at Montana’ Carroll College where he won three league titles.

A 1949 graduate from Colorado College and the first active head coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2006), Gagliardi began his coaching career at Trinidad (Colo.) Catholic after the head coach was drafted into World War II.  Gagliardi, as captain, took over the reins at the age of 16 in 1943.  His teams won four conference titles in Gagliardi’s six years of coaching high school at Trinidad Catholic and St. Mary’s in Colorado Springs.

Mitchell, who was inducted into the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008, amassed 117 seasons of coaching at Limon High School over 55 years, including 55 years as head boys track coach, 28 as an assistant football coach, 27 as head basketball coach and nine as head football coach where he succeeded legendary Badgers coach Lloyd Gaskill.  In all, Mitchell won 17 state championships as a head coach (12 in track) and 17 titles as a football assistant.  He was an assistant on football teams with 42- and 43-game winning streaks during the 1960s and several dominant track teams.

Tickets are $200 each and Sponsor tables start at $2,500.  For additional for ticket and table information, please telephone the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (www.coloradosports.org, 720/258-3535).  The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame & Museum is located at Gate 1 on the west side of Sports Authority Field at Mile High at 1701 Bryant Street in Denver.

Since its inception in 1965, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 234 individuals prior to Tuesday’s selection meeting.  The first class of inductees featured Earl “Dutch” Clark, Jack Dempsey and former Supreme Court justice Byron “Whizzer” White.  Otis Armstrong, Forrest B. “Frosty” Cox, Andy Gambucci, Darian Hagan, Todd Helton and Dorothy Mauk were inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame this past April.